


how did you know?

by voidcine



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, a good mix of angst and fluff, and her feelings are reciprocated, and really comforting, but also really satisfying, fix it after the pageant, it has a happy ending, lizzie saltzman is a repressed lesbian in love with hope mikaelson, not josie/hosie friendly, sad as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22205743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidcine/pseuds/voidcine
Summary: “You know that thing you said about being in this till the bitter end?” Hope asks, Lizzie nods in return. “I’d really like that.”
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 158





	how did you know?

_“How did you know what to say? How did you know what to do?”_

_“It’s just what Josie’s done for me a thousand times.”_

“Stop doing that,” Hope exclaims. She can’t listen to this.

“Excuse me?”

Hope has no idea why it took so long for her to come to her senses. She had always thought Lizzie only ever did things for her own gain without acknowledging the effect it may have on her own sister’s feelings, but she’s now realizing she’s had it all wrong.

“Talking about Josie like you owe her for being a decent human being,” she risks a look at Lizzie’s eyes and let it suffice to say she seemed caught off guard, like something in her head clicked. “For the longest time, I thought you didn’t appreciate her but now, after getting to know both of you more, I think it’s the other way around.”

Lizzie’s spent her entire life getting mistreated that it didn’t faze her when Josie was being unreasonable towards her because she was the only one who cared about her with no strings attached.

Or so she thought.

“What changed?”

She isn’t arguing or trying to dispute what Hope’s saying so the tribrid takes it as a good sign to continue so she could fully get her message across.

“A lot of things in the past month,” Hope starts. “When she snapped at you and said you were a terrible sister, and yet you didn’t seem to resent her in the slightest-”

“That’s because she wasn’t wrong...”

Hope’s face drops. Knowing how low Lizzie really thinks of herself when she’s known to be nothing but confident in public breaks her heart. More than a friend should actually.

“Let me finish,” When Hope doesn’t hear an objection out of Lizzie, she continues. “You did it because I think you know you’re not perfect but you’re still willing to try for her, who hasn’t always been the best sister either, and for yourself, which takes a lot of bravery. And I really admire that.”

Lizzie thinks back to the look Hope gave her after she embraced her sister that night. Being told that was a look of admiration makes her feel like maybe there is still hope for her to do better. To _be_ better.

“And when I found out the reason you resented me for so long, that’s when everything started to make a little more sense. And with what Josie did-”

“You smiled.”

Hope pauses, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, “What?”

“When Josie admitted to everything, you smiled at her. You didn’t care about anything other than the fact yet another person was deeply in love with you,” Lizzie blinks a few tears away and averts her gaze, in hopes the girl in front of her doesn’t notice. But she does and she feels awful for being the cause of it. “That’s when I realized people only ever care when it benefits them.”

“I’m sorry,” Hope admits, the blonde refusing to meet her gaze. “It was a long day, I wasn’t thinking straight, that was my bad. But I promise I _do_ care about you.”

“Yeah…”

“Hey, look at me,” Hope grabs a hold of Lizzie’s hand and the siphoner’s heart jumps a beat when she’s forced to stare directly into beautiful green eyes. “At the time, I hadn’t fully understood yet. I didn’t want Josie to feel embarrassed about the crush she had on me but I, and Josie, might’ve neglected you in the process. She hurt you and that’s more important than a _stupid_ childhood crush.”

Lizzie nods, at a loss for words, not really knowing what to say other than, “Thank you.”

“Oh, I’m not done. Do you know what made me come to my conclusion?” Lizzie slightly shakes her head and Hope gives her a reassuring smile. “When she told you about the dress, she didn’t really care about how I’d feel when I found out. If she did she would’ve said something sooner. She just wanted to make you feel even worse about not being able to read what’s on her mind… And when I was spiraling, you were there and you made it all okay.”

“Like I said, I got it from Josie.”

“I don’t think you did though. I think you’re only saying that to make her look better. But deep down, you know it’s just what you wish someone would do for you. And I’m prepared to be that someone.”

“Why are you doing this now?” Hope goes to answer but Lizzie doesn’t give her the chance. “I mean, if you think you owe me for tonight, you really don’t. Everything would be _so_ much easier for you if you just went back to hating me.”

“It really wouldn’t be because I have no reason to hate you. I’m sorry for never making an effort to be your friend when we were younger and I’m sorry what Josie did cost us so much time but we can start over now.”

“But that would mean ignoring everything that’s happened between us and I don’t want that,” Lizzie argues, taking a deep breath before saying what she has to say next. “I don’t want that because I’m _proud_ of our relationship and the progress we’ve made. I don’t want to start over, I want to be _more_.”

Hope’s breath gets caught in her throat, “What are you saying?”

“Remember when Josie said she didn’t want me to find out she liked you because she was afraid I’d ‘steal’ you away from her or whatever, since I guess I always win,” Hope nods, unsure of where this is going. “It doesn’t feel like I do. I’ve never been in love and acted on it before. But I want to change that.”

Lizzie moves her head closer to Hope. She sits frozen, from both fear and excitement. Lizzie leans in, so her forehead rests against hers. They close their eyes. Both their breaths are shaking. 

"Thank you," Lizzie says in barely more than a whisper.

"For what?" Hope replies, her voice low.

"For being you." Lizzie’s voice wavers, exhilarated from the tension between them.

Lizzie gently leans in and kisses Hope's warms lips. 

It isn’t like one of those close-mouthed kisses you do when you’re in eighth grade and you’ve never held hands with a girl before. It’s slow and soft, comforting in ways that words could never be.

Lizzie’s hand rests below Hope’s ear, her thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingle. She loves the way the redhead’s small body melts into hers. The way their lips fit like two puzzle pieces. It just feels right.

They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths, looking at each other without saying a word. Hope eventually breaks the comfortable silence.

“You know that thing you said about being in this till the bitter end?” Hope asks, Lizzie nods in return. “I’d really like that.”


End file.
